


the perfect recipe

by morbidsama



Series: YGO Apartment AU [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU where Noa lives with Seto and Mokuba and theyre a happy family, AU where everyone lives in the same apartment building, Aged-Up Character(s), Domestic Fluff, Jou teaches Kaiba to cook, M/M, Slightly aged up (like in their early 20s), also since this fic features all 3 kaiba bros im referring to seto by first name, modern-ish AU, not tagging nonmajor characters but basically the whole main ygo cast is in here lmao, this isnt edited well because im posting it before leaving for work lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-08 19:56:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19875217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morbidsama/pseuds/morbidsama
Summary: After moving out, Kaiba realizes that he has no earthly idea how to cook. However, he knows someone who does-- and decides to ask Jonouchi for help.Part of a very loosely held together AU where several YGO characters live in the same apartment building.





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t long before, after moving into his own place with his younger brothers in tow, Seto Kaiba realized that he had no idea how to cook. A charmed life of house-servants (complete with kitchen staff) had rendered several life skills unnecessary to learn, and while they could figure out the basics like cleaning and doing laundry relatively easily, the Kaiba brothers quickly realized that cooking was a skill that didn’t come easily to any of them. Mokuba could go to the store for ingredients, as he’d liked to tag along for shopping trips during their days at the mansion, but didn’t know what to do with them once they’d gotten home. Take out was getting tiresome and Seto flatly refused to eat fast food, so McDonald’s was off the table most nights, except when Mokuba and Noa threatened a rebellion quelled only by a 20pc chicken nuggets and an array of dipping sauces. The apartment, though very spacious, was too small to employ a full-time cook. Seto was going to have to face the facts, square up, and learn how to make a decent meal.  
  
He figured he should start somewhere simple, with less chance of fucking up tremendously and possibly burning the building to the ground. His immediate thoughts went to rice. Nothing more than rice and water in a pot on the stove—it should have been a simple task that a grown man could undertake on his own. Instead, after taking out the necessary components and setting them on the counter, he almost immediately blanked. How big should the pot be? What was the rice-to-water ratio? Should he put salt in while cooking it, or leave it plain and season it later? Seto stared at the bag of rice. He felt that if it had eyes, it’d be staring back. He took out his phone and googled “How to make rice,” feeling incredibly stupid. Nonetheless, the help from Google was a relief; step one to learning how to cook was completed. Rice went in with water, everything went on the stove, and shortly, cooked rice was sitting on the stove, waiting to be eaten. Seto felt somewhat relieved and a little proud of himself.  
  
Every step after “make rice” turned out to be substantially harder. Days went by made up of failed cooking experiments, more take-out, and Noa and Mokuba suffering through Seto’s somewhat successful meals, doing their best not to tell them what they really thought (just because something is cooked doesn’t always mean it tastes good). Seto picked up on this, and while he loved his brothers for trying, he realized that he was going to have to do a lot better a lot faster. He was officially on the hunt for help.  
  
\------------  
  
Seto's dilemma was unexpectedly solved when the Kaiba brothers had tagged along with Yugi and company for a day out (at Mokuba’s request, of course). Yugi had suggested that in order to save a little money on their outing, they all bring lunch from home and eat in one of Domino’s more peaceful parks, a makeshift picnic that served as a break from staring at the screens of arcade machines for an hour or so. To avoid exposing his awful cooking skills, Seto had opted for buying onigiri for himself and his brothers from a convenience store near the apartment; Mokuba and Noa seemed thankful for the gesture, although Seto had to admit he felt a little bad for being unable to make anything. After all, it was a responsibility he’d insisted upon taking as the eldest brother, and yet one he still wasn’t able to step up to the plate for.  
  
Gathered in the park, everyone started to take out their lunches, and Seto was unexpectedly blown away by the lunch of one Jonouchi Katsuya. Not only did Jonouchi’s obento look good in the definitely-properly-cooked-and-probably-delicious sense, but he’d decorated it! Beside his karaage and tamagoyaki sat radishes cut into stars, and atop his rice sat nori squares cut to look like Duel Monsters cards. Seto stared at Jonouchi’s lunch for a moment and then looked back to his own. It made sense that Jonouchi could cook, though Seto had never considered this possibility; it wasn’t a secret that the guy had practically raised himself after his parents split up. And while Seto and Mokuba had been largely left on their own throughout their childhood, they’d been well taken care of by the orphanage and then the mansion’s house-servants. Nonetheless, Seto felt a pang of shame at his own incompetence; in the face of an abusive parent, Jonouchi had learned to be self-sufficient, while Seto had relied on the other members of his charmed life for tasks he’d deemed menial.  
  
Halfway through Seto’s self-contained pity party, Jonouchi noticed his lunch being staring at in what probably looked like angry jealousy. Never one to miss a jab at his companion, he piped up, waving his hands in from of Seto’s face and snapping him back to reality.  
  
“Hey, Earth to Kaiba! What’s wrong, rich boy? You mad that I can cook or somethin’? Sorry your freezer-burnt onigiri can’t match up, but you gotta eat.” The remark garnered a few giggles from the rest of the group, but Noa and Mokuba looked on in muted concern while Seto attempted to save face. With wounded pride, he set his jaw and turned his nose up at Jonouchi’s lunch.  
  
“Not at all. I’m just surprised that a useless mutt like you could manage to make something edible,” he replied in what was closer to a snarl than a real voice, and bit into his onigiri with more force than necessary. Noa and Mokuba turned back to their food quietly, and the rest of their lunch hour seemed tense, even with Yugi’s attempts to put everyone back in good spirits.  
  
\------------  
That night, Seto’s pity party continued. After the lunch outing and Jonouchi’s teasing, he’d refused to even attempt dinner, giving his brothers no other option but to order Uber Eats for the third time that week. Seto didn’t eat at all. He lay in bed frustrated with himself and with Jonouchi for calling him out in front of everyone, especially because the onigiri had been an attempt to avoid the exact situation he’d been put in.  
  
He had to learn how to cook, though. It was a promise he’d made to his brothers and to himself, and he’d be damned if he couldn’t follow through. Thinking through his options, he didn’t feel that “buckle down and continue cooking awful food until something turned out right” seemed like a good one. He’d have to ask for outside help, he’d already resolved to that. And honestly, despite the jokes at his expense, Jonouchi seemed like a damn good cook. Maybe, maybe… even with the jabs at his inability to take care of himself… he could get some help.  
  
Sighing with frustration, he rolled over and snatched his phone off of the bedside table, opening up his messages. He took nearly five minutes to stare at the blank ‘new message’ screen before he could bring himself to type in Jonouchi’s name, and nearly another five to type out a message.  
  
\- Hey, about today.  
  
That was all that he managed, and he didn’t have to wait long for a reply. God, Jonouchi must be glued to his phone.  
  
\- you know what they say, richboy. if you can’t take the heat—oh wait, ur already out of the kitchen lmao  
  
\- Sigh… that’s not what I mean. Not exactly.  
  
\- ok… so whats up?  
  
\- Listen. You weren’t exactly wrong. I need to learn how to cook.  
  
\- and?  
  
\- And, well. You know. You’re a good cook.  
  
\- if u want my help ur gonna have to ask for real, kaib.  
  
\- Fine. Will you help me?  
  
\- woulda liked a please, but ok. name the time and place richboy.  
  
\- ASAP. …Please. We can’t keep eating take-out and Uber Eats.  
  
He sighed and set his phone back down, rolling over to stare at the ceiling and contemplating how low he’d stooped. Anything for his brothers, he supposed. He hoped at the very least, Jonouchi would be willing to start helping him that week.


	2. in which kaiba cooks breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a quick chapter in which Kaiba manages to make tamago kake gohan. I want to dedicate the whole of the next chapter to their first cooking lesson, so this one is pretty short. Hope you enjoy anyway!

Seto woke up dreading the idea of making breakfast. He couldn’t skip another meal again, and he couldn’t leave his brothers to their own devices; not only would he feel bad, but he shuddered to think that they would rely on greasy fast food two meals in a row. Forcing himself out of bed was difficult. The hit to his pride and the need to swallow it and get help had made him slightly depressed. Nonetheless, he was up and in the kitchen at 8 AM, a plush dark blue robe swung around himself, staring at the pantry for breakfast options.  
  
He decided to take the easy route and fall back on rice. This would make the last two meals he’d helped with rely almost totally on rice to be substantial, but he didn’t really care. Food was food, and at least this time it’d be something he’d made. So he put the pot of rice on the stove and was shortly portioning it out into three bowls and cracking an egg over each one. If rice was all he could manage, he could at least feel a little better in making a real dish. He set the table with the bowls, a small bottle of soy sauce, and drinks: tea for his brothers and black coffee for himself.  
  
Looking at his work, he couldn’t help but be a little proud of himself. His wounded pride had been repaired somewhat, and his chest swelled with it. He snapped a picture of the table, and for some unknown reason, gave in to the urge to send it to Jonouchi for bragging purposes; at least then he wouldn’t seem completely useless.  
  
\- So… not bad? You’re not starting from scratch here.  
  
\- so u can make rice? big deal moneybags, welcome to society w the rest of us.  
  
\- Well, if you’re going to be an ass about it, I can hire someone to teach me to cook. I just thought you should know that I’m not totally unskilled.  
  
\- …nah, i guess i gotta hand it to ya, even if u picked the easiest breakfast on earth.  
  
Somehow, even Jonouchi’s backhanded compliment made Seto feel better about himself. He called Noa and Mokuba down for breakfast with a gentle smile set upon his normally sharp features. Both of his brothers seemed grateful to have a real breakfast for once.  
  
“This looks great, Big Bro!” Mokuba cheered before digging in, and Seto felt like maybe this wouldn’t be as difficult as he’d thought.  
  


\--------

Around noon the same day, Seto’s phone chimed, and he unlocked it to find a message from Jonouchi in his texts.

\- yo kaib, u got lunch plans or what? you wanna learn some obento stuff?

Somehow, the whole situation still didn’t feel real, but he certainly was staring at an invitation from the one person he didn’t ever picture himself spending quality time with. He blinked at the message, and to his surprise and slight disdain, Seto felt his stomach flutter. Nerves—it had to be nerves. After all, he wasn’t exactly used to showing any kind of weakness, neither in Duel Monsters tournaments nor everyday tasks, and he felt that currently this cooking thing was a big one.

\- I’m not busy. You can come up whenever.

The truth was, Seto actually was very busy with reviewing and approving Kaiba Corporation documents—but he didn’t have to be at the office today, and he knew through Yugi that Jonouchi had a tough time getting days off from his nearly full-time job, so he’d set his work aside for the time being. He figured that if he didn’t master the skill soon, he and his brothers might all die of starvation anyway, and there’d be nobody to run the company then. So really, he was doing all this in the best interest of Kaiba Corporation. If anyone asked.


	3. Obento

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WOW this chapter ended up long and unintentionally mushy. 
> 
> Their first successful meal! Yaaaaay. Enjoy!

Despite knowing that Jonouchi would be up any moment, Seto was still caught off guard by the chime of the elevator that connected the two apartments. Doing his best to soothe his nerves and put a neutral expression back on his face, Seto faced the elevator doors as Jonouchi stepped out of them.  
  
“You look _so_ happy to see me,” the blonde joked, smiling wide enough for the two of them.  
  
“I don’t often have visitors,” Seto offered as an explanation. He wasn’t sure that Jonouchi’d really take the answer, but it was the best he could do.  
  
“Well, don’t I feel special then? Show me around!” Jonouchi returned cheerfully, taking in his surroundings.  
  
The elevator opened, just as it did in his own apartment downstairs, to the living room, which Seto had decorated tastefully but not extravagantly. The dark leather couches were accented by a glass-top coffee table, where a neat stack of gaming magazines sat. Jonouchi guessed that these were mainly for keeping up with KaibaCorp’s competition rather than for entertainment value. A large TV was mounted to the wall, and under it was a bookshelf crammed with movies and video games, as well as a few gaming systems. Scattered around the room were several candles and a few lamps that Seto tended to use instead of the overhead light; Jonouchi seemed to remember Seto saying that overhead light was too harsh and hurt his eyes, especially after working under the florescents of KaibaCorp’s offices all day. Although it was obvious that Seto had tried to keep the apartment looking neat and minimalistic, traces of life lingered throughout the room—a spare coffee cup on the table, a few of Mokuba’s CapMon figures scattered at the foot of the couch.  
  
Before he could finish looking around, Seto cleared his throat and motioned for Jonouchi to follow him out. It was just a few steps to the kitchen, which was spotless and looked as if it was rarely occupied. The only furniture that wasn’t built-in to the room was a small table set with three chairs. This didn’t come as a surprise—Jonouchi figured that being unable to cook, Seto would let the kitchen sit unused most of the time. He aimed to change that.  
  
“Alright, _Better Homes and Gardens._ Hope you got your cleaning service on speed dial, ‘cause cooking is messy. Looks like this place ain’t been used since it was built.”  
  
“I cooked this morning,” Seto said, sounding a little defensive, “I sent you the photos. And I did the dishes myself.”  
  
“I’m just messing with ya, moneybags. Don’t get too butthurt,” he replied, offering a gentle smile to let Seto know he was just teasing. Then, quickly, he followed with, “Where’s your food? I mean, seriously, do you let anything out of place in this apartment? I feel like I’m in a fucking IKEA.”  
  
Seto stifled a small laugh and stepped over to the pantry, throwing it open and motioning to the food inside.  
  
“Pantries exist for a reason. And the fridge is over there, in case you’re that spatially challenged,” he shot back, fighting down a smirk. Jonouchi took this in stride, glancing at the pantry’s contents before striding across the kitchen to throw open the fridge in turn, emulating Seto’s overdramatic flare of a gesture. Seto rolled his eyes.  
  
“Well, lookin’ at your fridge I’d say we’re not bad off. I don’t wanna overload you with stuff, so we’ll start with the basis. You know what makes a good bento?”  
  
“Uh, food,” Seto offered, trying desperately to think of everything he’d ever eaten out of a bento box.  
  
“Well, duh, food. But I mean you gotta have certain components, y’know? Obento is supposed to be a balanced meal. So we’re gonna go with rice, protein, and at least one veggie. Fruit if you want it, or like, some chocolate or somethin’. I like to have a dessert with mine.”  
  
Seto was struck by the fact that Jonouchi could just rattle this off. He didn’t exactly picture the guy as a chef or a nutritionist or anything. But he supposed that when you learn to cook for yourself in childhood, you tend to pick up a few things.  
  
“I don’t really like sweets,” he replied, at a loss for anything else. Geez. Every response he came up with just made him feel more like an idiot. Why was it that banter came easily, but real conversation was so fucking difficult?  
  
“That’s fine, that’s ok, it’s a preference. Anyway. What we’re gonna do is try to pick things that fit all that. I mean.. you ain’t got that much in your fridge, but I can work with this.” Jonouchi began to pull things out of the fridge, and Seto followed his example by bringing a cup-full of rice to the kitchen island and pulling out a pot. Defeatedly, he realized that he could once again only offer this one thing to the meal. His expression must have changed, or else Jonouchi really was just that nice, because when he brought the stuff from the fridge, he smiled down at the lone cup of rice on the island and thanked Seto for bringing it over. Seto wasn’t sure if this should make him feel better or worse. At least Jonouchi was genuinely trying to be encouraging.  
  
Despite groceries being sparse because of Seto’s cooking dilemma, Jonouchi had managed to pull a few things from the fridge that’d actually make a solid obento. There happened to be a little prepared beef left in the fridge (which Seto had picked up from the prepared foods section of the store in desperation for something that tasted home-cooked), and with it, Jonouchi had pulled out a block of instant curry roux. He’d pulled out the eggs, too, which were dwindling in number now that Seto had mastered tamago kake gohan. He’d also managed to find a small bottle of dashi, half-full. Finally, he’d pulled out some picked daikon (again, store-bought) and baby carrots that had been snacked on by Noa and Mokuba for a few days. In the middle of it all were two bento boxes, ready to be filled. Seeing that he at least had the ingredients for a full lunch lifted Seto’s spirits a little.  
  
“Let’s get started,” offered Jonouchi cheerfully, “can you grab a couple pans for the curry and egg?” Seto complied, taking out the pans, grabbing the rice pot, and carrying all three to the stove. He set each on a different eye and turned back to retrieve the rice. As he grabbed it, Jonouchi gave him an encouraging smile. “Sweet, yeah, could you put the rice on? I mean, you’ve had enough practice with that, right?”  
  
“Shut up,” Seto retorted, but was betrayed by the pull of a smile at the corners of his mouth. He poured the rice and then the water into the pot and soon had it cooking.  
  
“Alright, we’re gonna do curry first. This should be easy ‘cause everything’s pretty much prepared, we just gotta put it together,” he assured, following with “I’m gonna teach you how to cook it from scratch sometime, though.” The comment, though offhand, made something in Seto’s chest pull a little. He knew, of course, that he couldn’t learn everything in one go. But the fact that Jonouchi seemed committed to teaching him, and the sense of an eventuality, a ‘sometime’ in which they’d spend more afternoons together…  
  
It made him feel weird in a way that he couldn’t describe.  
  
He decided to push it out of his head. Now was the time for curry.  
  
“Okay,” he mustered in reply, turning the stove on under the curry pan. Jonouchi put the meat in and it sizzled pleasantly. After a few minutes, he gave it a stir and added in a little water.  
  
“So, you gotta be careful on this one. Don’t cook the meat in water too long or it’ll get… gross. But also don’t put so little water that your curry is thick as hell. You wanna let the meat sit in the water and steam for a minute before adding the roux or else it won’t be tender. I mean, if it was raw, this would take longer and probably make more sense. Also you’d usually have potatoes and carrots, but you don’t have potatoes and you’re low on carrots, so we’re just gonna work with the beef here.” Seto nodded and took mental notes, speaking very little so that he could focus on what was being said. His line of mental note-taking was interrupted when Jonouchi shoved a spoon into his hands, though.  
  
“Take this and use it to stir. We’re gonna add the roux.”  
  
“Are… you sure?” he asked tentatively, feeling unsure himself.  
  
“Cookin’ is practical, Kaib. You won’t learn if you just stand there. ‘Sides, this part is easy, okay?”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
With that, Seto was shuffled to stand directly in front of the pan, with Jonouchi lifting the lid and breaking off the roux. He handed the blocks over and motioned for Seto to drop them in, which he did in the same way that a robot accepts a command from its programmer.  
  
“Now stir it and leave it to simmer for a little. Your rice is almost done, we’re gonna take it off the stove.” Finally, something Seto could do without looking like an idiot. He took the pot from the hot eye and moved it to the inactive backburner to cool, taking the lid off and going to fetch the boxes and a rice paddle. Carefully, he dished out the rice and packed it into the side of the boxes, then set the pot down and stepped back to assess his work.  
  
“Step one completed,” he sighed, looking to Jonouchi for approval, who to his surprise was spooning the leftover rice into separate bowls.  
  
“Good work,” came the reply and a nod. “Let’s keep goin’. Eggs next. This one might be a little tough if you’ve never cooked eggs before, but the practice is good. We’re gonna do tamagoyaki.”  
  
“I’ve never flipped an egg in my life.”  
  
“You gotta start somewhere, rich boy,” Jonouchi advised, grabbing the carton of eggs and a bottles of seasonings from the island while Seto turned on the stove eye and poured a little oil into the pan. He turned to watch as Jonouchi cracked the eggs into a spare bowl and beat them, adding in the soy, dashi, and a little sugar and pepper. “I wish you had green onions,” he mused, “they go real well with tamagoyaki.”  
  
“Sorry,” Seto mumbled unapologetically, stepping aside so that the egg mixture could be poured into the pan.  
  
“Okay, here’s where it gets tough,” Jonouchi explained, brandishing chopsticks in one hand. “You gotta… pour it…” he interjected with a pour of some of the mixture, “and then roll it. And then do that a bunch of times.” Seto nodded in response, but he didn’t quite get it. Jonouchi must’ve picked up on that, because he smiled and his voice softened. “It ain’t that hard, really, but I’ll do the first couple rolls and then you can try.” Seto nodded again. Jonouchi rolled the egg once, added more of the mixture, and then rolled again. He gave it one more go before handing off the chopsticks to Seto.  
  
“I’m gonna pour it and then you can try rolling,” he offered, and Seto poised the chopsticks, at the ready. As soon as the egg went in, he moved to roll it, and Jonouchi _tsk_ ’d. “Let it cook, let it cook first for a minute.” Seto held back until Jonouchi gave him the okay, and then began to roll the mixture towards the other end of the pan. It was difficult, but not impossible. He earned a gentle “not bad” from his cooking partner, and the last of the egg was poured in. Seto managed better the second time, and allowed himself a smile. Jonouchi beamed back, taking the pan off of the stove and setting the finished tamagoyaki onto a cutting board. Seto grabbed a knife and started to hand it over, but Jonouchi waved his hand at the offer and stepped aside, gesturing for Seto to take his place.  
  
“You cut it.”  
  
“Okay,” Seto agreed, his nerves pricking again. He’d felt that he’d never cut anything more carefully.  
  
“We only need two for the obento, I’ll take some and put the rest in the fridge and you can have ‘em for later.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
“You gonna say anything other than ‘okay’? I miss the insults a little, geez.”  
  
“I never thought you’d say that. Ever,” Seto replied with a slightly amused sneer to his voice, realizing that he’d really been too lost in absorbing information to come up with anything clever to say since they’d raided the room for ingredients. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to his guest, but rather that he’d simply been focused, and a focused Seto was a quiet Seto.  
  
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” Jonouchi laughed, his shoulders bouncing lightly in a way that made Seto’s head feel light. “We just gotta throw this in the boxes and add the radish. Curry should be done by now.”  
  
Together they got the curry off the stove and into the bento, and on the other side of the container they nestled in the tamagoyaki and daikon, along with the last of the carrots. Both men stepped back to admire their work, although Seto noticed that Jonouchi stepped away after a short moment to return to the extra bowls he’d put the rice in. Turning to the stove, he noticed that he’d stepped away to ladle in the extra curry and looked after the process with clear confusion on his face. Jonouchi laughed lightheartedly.  
  
“The obento ain’t for us. We’re just gonna have the leftovers. I thought it’d be better to let your brothers judge the real deal, since I’m guessing you’re learnin’ for them, right?”  
  
“Um,” Seto admitted with a hint of surprise in his voice, “yes. How…?”  
  
Jonouchi’s eyes softened, and his voice got a little quieter.  
  
“I always wanted to cook for Shizuka.”  
  
“Ah.” Seto was at a loss for what to say. He knew Jonouchi didn’t want sympathy; the guy had had enough of that in their high school years and had made it clear to everyone that it made him uncomfortable. But he didn’t want to say nothing, either.  
  
 _Are we having a moment?_ The thought popped into his head before he could stop it.  
  
“I don’t mean to get serious,” Jonouchi disclosed, quickly shrugging off the awkwardness in the air but doing nothing to keep from inviting another wave of it into the room, “but it’s really cool how you’re doin’ this for them. I mean, I know you gotta eat too, it ain’t just for them, but... you’re a good brother. You are.”  
  
“Ah,” gasped Seto again, “uh, thank you.”  
  
His brain felt like it was going into overdrive. They _were_ having a moment, and he didn’t know how to handle it. Diverge the conversation? Say something meaningful? Ask Jonouchi to leave after an hour of comradery? His face was beginning to feel hot. His chest and his throat had both tightened. He thought he felt his hands shaking a little, but it could’ve been his imagination. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What was he supposed to do?  
  
“Yeah, let’s not do this mushy shit for much longer. We got food to eat,” interrupted Jonouchi’s voice, pulling Seto from his panicked thoughts.  
  
“Okay, yes,” he replied, trying to steady his voice, “I’ll call the boys.”  
  
At his announcement that lunch was ready, Noa and Mokuba emerged from a room off the hallway where they’d undoubtedly spent the day holed up playing video games. Both seemed skeptical of Jonouchi’s presence, giving Seto a rather pointed look. He ignored it for his own sanity. The boys were ushered to the table and the obento placed in front of them, and Seto put he and Jonouchi’s lunch at the table too, opposite each other. It wasn’t until the table had been set that Seto realized there wasn’t a chair for Jonouchi.  
  
“It’s fine, Kaib, I’ll go eat on the couch or somethin’,” he offered, but Seto wouldn’t have it.  
  
“You helped cook, you’ll eat at the table,” he insisted. Noa piped up from beside him.  
  
“I’ve got a chair,” he informed, and disappeared back into the hallway for a moment before emerging from the same room, this time dragging a desk chair behind him. Seto rushed to meet him in the hallway, picking up the chair easily and gracefully.  
  
“Don’t drag it like that, you’ll damage the carpet. If it had made it to the kitchen like this, the floor would have been scuffed. If you can’t carry something, ask for help.”  
  
“I don’t need your help,” Noa mumbled ungratefully, kicking at the carpet a little. Nonetheless, they returned to the table without any hard feelings, Seto setting the chair down in the empty spot. Something pulled at Jonouchi’s heartstrings; he’d never considered that Seto did anything other than antagonize others and whatever else manic businessmen did outside of playing card games and hacking computer systems. Here, though, Seto was part of a family, and he acted like it. Jonouchi knew he shouldn’t be surprised; he’d seen Seto act this way with his brothers (especially Mokuba) many, many times. He’d meant it when he called Seto a good brother, but this was different. Seto seemed, in this setting, to be an average person. An average person with an average, functional family. Even if they were ridiculously, needlessly wealthy. And kind of crazy.  
  
It was Jonouchi’s turn for an unsolicited thought to invade his brain.  
  
 _I wouldn’t mind being part of a family._


	4. Delivery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little bit of angst. Kaiba, you take one step forward and two steps back, huh? It's ok, it has a happy resolution!

Either Jonouchi was getting plenty of time off lately, or he was specifically making time for cooking lessons. Seto didn’t know which it was, but he did know which he preferred to believe. The idea that Jonouchi actually _wanted_ to spend time with him made him sort of paranoid in a way that he couldn’t describe. Jonouchi must be getting low hours at work and just looking for a way to waste time.  
  
In any case, the two men had been spending a lot of their downtime together. Seto wondered often (again, due to unexplained paranoia) if any of Jonouchi’s friends had noticed. He wondered often if Jonouchi had told Yugi, or if anyone had seen him coming off of the elevator and gotten suspect. The thoughts wouldn’t die, no matter how hard he tried to brush them off.  
  
_What does it matter? It isn’t like anything is going on,_ he told himself over and over. _They’re cooking lessons. Nothing else. It’s a ‘do or die’ situation._  
  
He’d milled it over again and again, unintentionally ramping up his anxiety for a few days. He'd gone as far as avoiding passing through Yugi & Co.'s apartment, taking the long way down to the ground floor instead. He didn't want to have to run into any of them, lest they bring it up or Jonouchi suggest another lesson. He couldn't deal with it right now. Inevitably, though, during work one day, his phone chimed with a message.  
  
\- sup kaib. you in for another lesson tonight?  
  
Ugh. The thought of seeing Jonouchi again and having to face all the things he’d pushed to the back of his mind made him mildly nauseous. Seto left the message in favor of focusing hard on his work. The blue light from his screen and the intensity of his anxiety made the numbers run together, though, and he was reduced to switching tabs every fifteen minutes, fruitlessly checking his email and hoping for something else to do. He got up every so often to make another cup of coffee, which did nothing for his nerves. He spread a folder’s worth of documents and tech blueprints over his desk, skimming over each one without any real intention to review the contents. A few hours passed this way. His phone chimed again.  
  
\- time sensitive question, richboy. u down or not?  
  
He had an excuse on his hands. He had been planning on a late night in the office to finish up several new project plans. He had to approve research for several potential Duel Disk improvements. It was a lot to get through. There were deadlines in place.  
  
\- I’ve got a lot on my plate with Kaiba Corporation right now. I may be here well past midnight.  
  
It somehow took more effort than usual for Seto to type out an “I’m busy” message and hit send. He didn’t like the implications of it; he blew people off with that excuse almost daily, whether truthful or not. It shouldn’t be different for Jonouchi. But it was.  
  
In true Jonouchi fashion, his phone chimed again with an immediate reply.  
  
\- your bros got dinner?  
  
_Low blow,_ thought Seto, a frown wrinkling his brow.  
  
\- They’ll be fine. They live for an excuse to order McDonald’s.  
  
\- you got dinner?  
  
“Do I—do _I_ have dinner?” he mumbled, trying to work out Jonouchi’s angle. What did it matter if he had dinner? He had work to do. Dinner was not important.  
  
\- I have coffee.  
  
It was the best thing he could come up with. No, he did not bring food, and he didn’t plan on ordering any. He worked best on a steady diet of stress and caffeine.  
  
\- hmm… not what i asked, kaib. u doing uber eats or smth?  
  
Seto was starting to go from anxious to irritated. He swore Jonouchi was making fun of him, antagonizing him for turning down a lesson.  
  
\- I have work to do. To order Uber Eats would mean I’d have to send someone to the lobby to pick the food up, or else go down myself. I have a coffee machine in my office. I will be fine.  
  
He felt that he was oversharing. He wished that Jonouchi would take a hint for once and stop texting him.  
  
\- how late u gonna be there?  
  
_Ugh!_  
  
\- Very late.  
  
He locked his phone and turned it face down on the desk, pushing it as far as he could to the edge without it falling over. Between his own nerves and the persistent questioning, he felt overwhelmed and very bothered—although mostly with himself. He’d given out too much information. Nobody had the right to know about his eating or working habits, and he wished he’d kept it that way. His phone chimed with a reply. He stared at it but did not turn it over. A few minutes passed, and it chimed again. He had the urge to flip his fucking desk over. Did Jonouchi feel entitled to his time now just because he’d asked for the cooking lessons? Was he trying to get on Seto’s nerves as retaliation for being blown off? Was Seto overthinking things?  
  
_Okay, stop,_ He told himself, _Turn off your brain and focus._  
  
Seto turned back to his work, his anxiety replaced with anger. The change seemed to do him some good; he was able to dive into his work with an almost manic enthusiasm. The numbers on his spreadsheets no longer seemed jumbled and vague. Flaws in his tech plans jumped out to him and called for clear solutions. He tuned out his phone and his thoughts easily. Time passed quickly and Seto didn’t even feel the need to recaffinate. He was jotting down notes and composing an email nearly simultaneously when there was a knock on his office door. The noise jostled him, interrupting his train of thought.  
  
“Come in,” he called, clearly sounding irritated. He didn’t look up from his notes.  
  
The door opened and someone stepped in. It shut behind them, which Seto thought was unusual, as his employees usually left it open. He glanced up, wondering who on earth could be bothering him at this time; everyone else in the office should have gone home by now.  
  
To Seto’s surprise, Jonouchi was standing at the door. He was holding something behind his back.  
  
“Hey, Kaiba,” greeted Jonouchi, sounding nervous but sincere. Seto bit his tongue, electing to stare blankly at the blonde. Anger started to well inside his gut again. His insides felt like they might explode.  
  
“I hope ya don’t mind me comin’ all the way up here. I, uh, brought you somethin’. Dinner. I brought you dinner.”  
  
He held out what had been behind his back. It was a bento box, wrapped in blue cloth.  
  
Seto didn’t invite Jonouchi to come any closer, and they stared at each other, Jonouchi’s gift meeting with silence. This was awkward. Seto didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t look away, and neither did Jonouchi. The anger within him, accompanied by the bitter taste of stomach acid, seemed to drain away and was quickly replaced again by unflinching anxiety. He could feel his face beginning to flush, and Jonouchi had been blushing himself from the moment Seto’d looked up from his work. Seconds passed. Jonouchi’s arms started to go a little limp, and he struggled to keep holding the obento out in front of him. Seto sighed.  
  
“Thank you,” he replied in almost a whisper.  
  
The broken silence seemed to give Jonouchi his confidence back. His face broke out into a smile, and he took a step towards Seto’s desk, laughing.  
  
“Jesus fucking Christ, Kaib. I thought you were gonna bite my fucking head off! Don’t scare me like that.” He crossed the distance between them and set the box down, carefully pushing Seto’s work aside to make room. Looking more closely, Seto saw that the cloth had a pattern on it; it was covered in little Blue Eyes drawings. Damn it, Jonouchi was thoughtful twice over.  
  
“Sorry,” Seto said, not raising his voice any. He reached out and took the box, undoing the cloth with slender, trembling fingers. Jonouchi reached into his bag and pulled out two cans of green tea, still cold, perching himself on the edge of the desk.  
  
The bento contained onigiri, tonkatsu, and a salad with a small container of dressing.  
  
“This looks good,” Seto complimented, his tone returning to normal. He picked up the onigiri and began to take a bite.  
  
“That’s, uh, it’s plum,” Jonouchi cut in, “I dunno what you like… tried to ask, but you didn’t reply to my texts… so I went basic. Hope that’s okay.”  
  
“That’s fine,” Seto attempted to reply through a mouthful of rice. Jonouchi cracked open his can of tea and took a large gulp.  
  
If Seto had felt bad before, plagued by angry and intrusive thoughts, he certainly felt worse now. He’d misinterpreted Jonouchi’s kindness for invasiveness. It was shocking that the guy still seemed to want to be around him. Nonetheless, here he was, making himself comfortable in Seto’s office. He was a better person than Seto had believed, and probably could ever hope to be. Seto swallowed his rice and cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing again.  
  
“Jonouchi.”  
  
“Yeah, Kaib?” returned Jonouchi, reaching over and plucking a cherry tomato from atop the salad.  
  
“Thank you, really. For the food and for your concern.” Seto allowed himself a genuine, appreciative smile. Jonouchi laughed, and Seto knew that it was well intended.  
  
“Well, if you ain’t gonna take care of yourself, somebody’s gotta do it for ya. Hit me up any time you need, rich boy.”  
  
There was the notion of a future again, in which Jonouchi wanted to spend _sometime, anytime_ in Seto’s company. Familiar dread pulled at his chest, but he tried hard to push it away. He was so used to being alone, the prospect of anything different was nearly painful to think of. But as Jonouchi sat there smiling and talking, as Seto listened and ate the dinner that had been made for him… the idea didn’t seem so bad anymore. The future that Jonouchi kept implying didn’t seem so strange or unattainable. Seto made a silent promise to himself then, one that went hand-in-hand with the promise of learning to cook; wherever their time spent together took them, he wouldn’t lash out against it or back away. He would let it happen, and in the end perhaps he’d feel comfortable with cooking and company.


End file.
